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Vol. 1 Issue 1
www.theolivepress.es
March 28th - April 10th 2019
HOUSE RULES ANXIOUS expats breathed a sigh of relief this week after Parliament voted to wrestle back control of the Brexit process in yet another humiliation for Theresa May. The fresh blow for the British Prime Minister has put the future of a million expats in Europe firmly into the hands of MPs, who are expected to vote against a hard Brexit. It comes after thousands of expats joined a million marchers at a mas-
What drove this expat to cut off his member? Page 7
Celebrating the end of the Spanish Civil War Page 14
Costa Blanca home is voted best in Europe Page 20
Olive Press reviews Madrid’s hot new hotel Page 26
sive anti-Brexit protest in London at the weekend. “It was great to be there making history I hope,” said Sue Wilson of Bremain in Spain. “It is not the first time we have voted with our feet, but it was our biggest ever march contingent,” she added. “It was a sign of commitment that so
Border battle as nuisance neighbour forced to cut down intrusive cypress trees
go awry with his neighbours, who he insists refused to be friendly ‘from the outset’. Capps, who trained as a paramedic, claims the neighbour’s four dogs barked continually and their owner hid inside the house whenever approached. Despite calling in the Guardia Civil to investigate and contacting the mayor of Benissa for help, he said the neighbour refused to negotiate a compromise. A letter to the town hall, seen by the Olive Press, pleaded for help, insisting the man was deliberately threatening them and that he carried a gun.
EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt
AN expat is celebrating after his nuisance neighbour was told to trim a row of ‘intrusive’ trees, following an Olive Press probe. American expat Gordon Capps, 59, is overjoyed after police confirmed they had ordered his Portuguese neighbour to cut the line of cypress trees to just 1.5 metres in height. Capps had sought our help after the ‘disturbed’ 30-something neighbour planted a dozen trees alongside his garden fence, threatening to block his stunning views of the Sierra de Bernia y Ferrer. The 59-year-old film worker said the move was the ‘last straw’ in a bizarre ongoing feud with the neighbour, who he claims recently approached him with a rifle on his shoulder. “It feels like he’s putting up 12 middle fingers at us,” Gordon,
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As well as asking the town hall to check if he had a licence for the rifle, the September 2018 missive asked if local police could speak to him about his dogs. Capps claimed he was ‘worried for his life’ and that the neighbour appeared to have ‘mental health issues’. Another neighbour, Spaniard Jaime Serra Ortola, 43, has also denounced the neighbour for ‘death threats’ against him and his dog. “I’ve denounced him countless times and the police have twice been round. It’s fair to say he is unhinged,” he told the Olive Press. The feud began when Capps put up a low bamboo fence to create some privacy from the neighbour who spied on him while swimming, and then reacted furiously, screaming ‘this is war!’ Capps now fears the trees will not only block his view, but the roots could destroy his pool. The Olive Press was unable to speak to the neighbour, despite various visits.